James W. Tilghman

James Tilghman is a registered architect in the states of New York, Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia. As a highly accomplished design leader in the role of lead designer, most recently for several projects in the GSA Design Excellence program, he has led the design process for a wide range of high profile clients in both the public and private sectors. His recent project credits include the Headquarters Building and the Campus Conference Center at NASA Langley, Hampton VA, the Social Security Administration Metro West Campus, Baltimore MD, the National Guard Bureau Readiness Center, Arlington VA, and the UConn Musculoskeletal Institute, Farmington, CT, in addition to projects in the science and technology, transportation, workplace, healthcare, research and infrastructure sectors. His work has been recognized with AIA Design Awards and citations for excellence from numerous professional and institutional organizations.

As a design studio instructor, most recently for the 403 Senior undergraduate studio, Architectural Design Studio IV, his focus is on a wholistic approach to the design process involving the development of perceptual tools and effective communication skills in discerning, defining and presenting architectural design concepts of significant meaning and value.

He is currently a member of the Professional Advisory Board of the University of Maryland School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, the AIA DC Design Excellence Committee, and has served as a guest juror throughout his career on numerous design studios and thesis juries at the University of Maryland, Catholic University, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Parsons School of Design (The New School) Pratt Institute and Philadelphia University. In 2009, he sponsored a studio design project at Maryland for an optics laboratory at NASA Langley, part of a 600 level topical studio on Sustainable Skins that brought the students to Langley and the NASA client to the final review in College Park. He is the founding principal (2012) of M12, a Washington, DC based design consultancy.

B.A., 1982, University Of Pennsylvania; M.Arch, 1986, Harvard University